THANE: A 16-year-old school dropout was among four youths arrested for the murder and rape - in that order - of a 22-year-old engineering graduate at her home in Shahad near Kalyan last week, besides other murders and robberies, said the police on Tuesday.

The juvenile was the leader of the pack of desperados arrested on Monday, said the police. Commissioner of police Param Bir Singh said the court would be requested to try him as an adult given the gravity of the crime and the reign of terror the gang had unleashed in the Shahad-Kalyan belt.

In last week's crime, the juvenile allegedly killed the engineering graduate with a sharp object when she resisted his robbery attempt at her home in Saidham housing society in the early hours of April 14. The police said the juvenile raped the young woman after she fell down lifeless and lay in a pool of blood, before decamping with her laptop and mobile.

All four, Nitin Waghe (19), Nitesh alias Nitya Bhoir (20), Ravindra Waghe (20) and the 16-year-old, belong to a particular tribe from the district.

The police said the frail and lanky youths were crafty and cruel in the execution of their crimes and had shown no remorse on their arrest.

Courtesy Times of India